TV-server, is it stable enough to use? (1 Viewer)

[KoktGrus]

Hello...


I´m thinking about to use a P4 1,7 GHz with 1 GB ram for a TV-server... Is the tv-server stable enough to use every day? Does it work fine for channel-changing?


What differences will i experience, if i previously had the TV-card connected direct to my HTPC (FireDTV DVBT to a 3500+, 1 GB ram) and will have a cheap wireless 108 Mbit connection between them in future?


I aslo thought about placing all the hard-drives and just use a 2,5" 4200 RPM laptop-harddrive in the HTPC... Anyone has any experiences about the lost performance with that?

 

[ASiDiE]

I have been testing and using the new tv engine from the day the beta came out. I think it's very stable and ready to be used for everyday use. Now this all depends on your setup.. but it should work really well for you at this point in time. Try it out.. and if you still don't like it... go back to the old version.

 

[KoktGrus]

ok, i thought most about to use it to get rid of some cables... And to be able to use a bedroom-htpc for viewing TV =)

 

[rtv]

Generally I'd agree. Nevertheless there are some issues e.g. with crappy WLAN routers which drop the connection, etc

 

[scythelt]

I just installed the server and tv client from scratch and definitely wouldn't say it's ready for primetime. From what I understand lots of aussies on DVB-T are having major issues, but others in the US and UK/Europe are having more luck.

It seems to me the server is quite stable, but the client needs a lot of work. It takes about 30-40secs to get a steady tv stream going after a channel change, and occasionally on reboot the client just hangs because it can't seem to find the server.

There is all sorts of weirdness if the server is off, the MP client tends to freeze all over the place - "My Radio" doesn't display any radio stations in its list despite there being a bunch of internet radio streams available locally that don't require the server to be on at all.

I appreciate the work that's been done so far, and the server is an impressive piece of work, but unfortunately for myself being in australia, it seems it's very far from a useable piece of software just yet.

 

[rtv]

The service MUST be started all the time and with a properly configured DB/network the client won't have any connection troubles.

 

[Azazyel]

I'm in Australia, and I'm not having any problems...?

The only flaw so far(And it's only for setting up) is the XMLTV plugin refuses to overwrite the guide, so if it imports the wrong info, you have to remove it manually (I'm thinking anyway, else there is a big problem)

 

[wishywashy]

I can stream analog and digital TV to a client, but my host machine won't display a digital picture. I only get sound.

 

[scythelt]

The service MUST be started all the time and with a properly configured DB/network the client won't have any connection troubles.

The service won't start automatically on boot?

The major issue I get (when it does work) is upon first loading "My TV" (which takes about 5-6secs, the stream loads nicely without any hiccups, but as soon as I change a channel, it takes about 2-3secs then id get 1-2sec of video, then it'd freeze for about 1min then the stream would resume and itd be hiccup free from then on.

This happens for every channel I change to - so it doesn't seem to be related to signal strength...

This issue alone makes use of the tv server impossible for day-to-day usage.

There are other more minor issues, but the one that comes to mind is a channel change where the stream changes to say ABC but the text on the OSD and tv guide says it's still on "Nine" (wrong channel).

 

[scythelt]

I'm in Australia, and I'm not having any problems...?

Azazyel - what tv tuner card are you using?